Heroic refugee saves drowning man celebrating German Carnival

Published time: 8 Feb, 2016 20:19

The Rhine river in the western German town of Krefeld. © Ina Fassbender

Don’t expect this story to be shared on the anti-migrant hate sites popping up around Europe, but people who aren’t xenophobic are celebrating one refugee’s Sunday heroics in Germany.

A 21-year-old Pakistani walking with a friend in the city of Krefeld spotted a man fall into the Rhine river while urinating, the Local reported, citing a German police report.

After telling his friend to contact emergency services, the migrant jumped into the chilly waters and bravely rescued the 20-year-old "Krefelder" who had been one of the 80,000 people at the local Karneval celebration.

Police described the rescue as a "selfless" act.

The unnamed migrant currently lives in a communal refugee home in the city.

Both men emerged from the water uninjured.

The only arrest made during Krefeld’s Karneval was of a local man, police say.

A Belgian journalist doing a report on Cologne’s Karneval was sexually assaulted and harassed by several men of apparently "European" appearance during a live report last Thursday.

While discussing the New Year’s Eve attacks committed by both Germans and non-Germans, the men tried to grope her and reportedly asked her to sleep with one of them.